Tag: miami sightseeing

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens: Florida’s best mansion to see

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM, one of central rooms in the mansion of James Deering

VIZCAYA MUSEUM review

What a fantastic place to visit in Coconut Grove, Miami’s oldest neighborhood! In fact, this is the most beautiful estate museum I’ve visited in the US so far. It’s better then the Ringling estate and the Flagler one. Reminiscent of the old European architecture, the mansion reminds me of Venice and its mysterious charm. James Deering envisioned the mansion build in style of several European historical periods and so some rooms have Venetian influence, others Spanish. There’s also a large room with Chinese art.

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-room-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-room, all pictures are by Veronica Winters

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-elevator-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-a small elevator that was build just in case Deering needed to come down from the second floor..
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-little phone room

The Garden

old trees in the garden

The garden is similar to the one in Versailles. Every corner of the garden is eternally beautiful! I can sit and sketch there for hours if I could. It’s amazing to see this Mediterranean Revival art style integrated into the Florida landscape of mangroves and lizards. Get ready to spend at least two hours walking down the garden and examining the rooms of the estate. The café has tasty food and drinks if you’d like to have a bite there. What a treasure and a must-see in Miami for sure!

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-garden-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-garden

History

Vizcaya mansion used to be the winter residence of James Deering, an industrialist from Chicago. Born in 1859, Deering was incredibly wealthy and owned several properties in France, Chicago, Miami and New York. A retired multi-millionaire, he moved to Miami because of his poor health. The 130 acre estate took nearly a decade to complete. James died at 65 years of age and his nieces sold the estate to the county after the two hurricanes devastated the property they couldn’t maintain.

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-staircase-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-staircase
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-little window-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-little window

Art

VIZCAYA MUSEUM-stained glass windows
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-stained glass windows
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-pompeii sculpture-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-Pompeii-like sculpture
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-sphynx-veronica winters art blog
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-sphynx in the garden
One of sculptures found in the vast garden
VIZCAYA MUSEUM-marble sculpture of Marion Deering McCormick, Jose Clara, 1927

The museum is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, including December 31 and January 1. https://vizcaya.org/ | ADDRESS: 3251 South Miami Ave. Miami Fl. 33129

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